Water Properties

Student Centered Water Exploration in class

Materials

• Water Dropper
• Water
• Ice
• Penny
• Thermometer
• Cups

What we learned:

• A large number of water drops were able to be placed on a penny with a dropper. The number of drops exceed what was expected. Students expected the flat shape of a penny to allow water drops to roll off the edge. It was discovered that water molecules have a natural force of attraction to each other defined as Water Tension.
• Water Tension allowed for more drops of water to be held together on the penny until the force from the weight of the water became greater than the force of the Water Tension holding the water drops together.

What we learned:

• Ice was determined to be at a temperature of 32 degrees Fahrenheit ( 0 Degrees Celsius)
• Water can exist as ice, water, or water vapor at the same time with different temperatures.
• Adding or removing Heat Energy from the water will define whether it exists as ice (a solid), water (a liquid), or as water vapor (a gas).
• In the cup containing water and ice, it was found that ice floats on water and is lighter (less dense) than the heavier (more dense) liquid water below . Water vapor is lightest of the three (least dense) being found above both the liquid water and ice.

Temperature and Energy:

• The thermometer temperature gives the idea of whether something is warm or cold but not the amount of Heat Energy involved. Temperature of water involves both the amount of Heat Energy and the amount of water the temperature is taken from.
• A drop of water at 100 degrees Fahrenheit has less Heat Energy than a cup of water at 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Temperature is a quality of water and not a quantity.